Mary Fallin

Mary Fallin
Fallin in 2015
27th Governor of Oklahoma
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
LieutenantTodd Lamb
Preceded byBrad Henry
Succeeded byKevin Stitt
Chairwoman of the National Governors Association
In office
August 4, 2013 – July 13, 2014
DeputyJohn Hickenlooper
Preceded byJack Markell
Succeeded byJohn Hickenlooper
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 5th district
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded byErnie Istook
Succeeded byJames Lankford
14th Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
In office
January 9, 1995 – January 2, 2007
GovernorFrank Keating
Brad Henry
Preceded byJack Mildren
Succeeded byJari Askins
Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
from the 85th district
In office
January 8, 1991 – January 9, 1995
Preceded byMike Hunter
Succeeded byOdilia Dank
Personal details
Born
Mary Copeland

(1954-12-09) December 9, 1954 (age 69)
Warrensburg, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (from 1975)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (until 1975)
Spouses
Joseph Fallin
(m. 1984; div. 1998)
(m. 2009)
Children3 (with Fallin)
3 stepchildren (with Christensen)
EducationOklahoma Baptist University
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater (BS)
Signature

Mary Fallin (/ˈfælɪn/; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954)[1] is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She is the first and only woman to be elected governor of Oklahoma. She was the first woman to represent Oklahoma in Congress since Alice Mary Robertson left office in 1923.

Beginning a career in politics, Fallin was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1990. She served two terms in the Oklahoma House, representing a district in Oklahoma City, from 1990 to 1995. In 1994, Fallin was elected to serve as the 14th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma; being elected to a total of three terms, she served under two different governors from 1995 to 2007. After seven-term Republican incumbent Ernest Istook announced that he would retire from his seat to run for governor, Fallin declared her candidacy for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, where she was elected to two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011.

Fallin ran for Governor of Oklahoma in 2010. She defeated three other opponents with 54% of the vote in the Republican primary, and defeated the Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, with 60% of the vote in the general election. She won reelection in 2014, defeating Oklahoma state representative Joe Dorman. Term limits barred Fallin from seeking a third term to the governorship in 2018; fellow Republican Kevin Stitt was elected to succeed her.

  1. ^ Wilson, Linda D. "Fallin, Mary Newt Copeland". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2018.